Wednesday, May 1
Carbondale, Ill.
6 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
19-22
8
vs
3
Murray State
19-22
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Murray State
0
1
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
3
5
5
Southern Illinois
1
0
2
3
0
1
0
1
X
8
8
1
SIU takes down Murray State, 8-3
05/01/2019 | 9:36:00 | Baseball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois baseball team scored six unanswered runs after a 1-1 tie and rolled to an 8-3 win over Murray State on Wednesday night at Itchy Jones Stadium. Six Saluki pitchers combined to allow just five hits in the win.Â
"I thought we were solid in all three phases of the game, especially on defense," SIU head coach Ken Henderson said. "We were outstanding on defense. We controlled their running game, which is a big part of their offense. They were 0-for-1 (stealing), so that's great work by our pitchers and (Austin Ulick) behind the plate. Our infield made a couple great plays."Â
Postgame Interviews » Henderson | Lyon
SIU (19-22) took the lead in the first inning. After SIU failed to get a runner home from third with one out, Alex Lyon picked up the slack with a two-out RBI single. Murray State tied the game in the second inning, but Ian Walters and Alex Lyon hit back-to-back two-out RBI singles in the third inning to give SIU a 3-1 lead. The Salukis added three runs in the fourth and one in the sixth to make it six unanswered runs and a 7-1 Saluki lead.Â
Southern's pitchers were outstanding in making the lead hold up. Noah Farmer, in his second career start, got through three innings and allowed just one run. Blake Begner and Dylan Givens combined to allow just one hit in three shutout innings.Â
Murray State (19-22) threatened to turn around a 7-1 score in the seventh inning. The Racers loaded the bases with one out and scored a pair of runs on a walk and a wild pitch. With the top of MSU's order up, Matt DeSomer ended the threat with four-straight strikeouts--two to end the seventh and two to start the eighth. Trey McDaniel ended the game with a perfect ninth inning.
"Once Matty settled in, he did a great job," Henderson said. "Once (P.J. Finigan) talked to him and made an adjustment, he was really special. He was throwing hard. They had a little momentum, and he shut the door on it. Then, he came back and threw a 1-2-3 eighth. That was the ballgame right there."
SIU's pitching issued just three walks, while the Saluki offense took 12 passes and stole five bases. Southern's only error was a catcher's interference call, and Grey Epps made a pair of spectacular backhanded plays behind the bag at third base to lead a flawless defensive effort in the field.Â
After dropping 10-straight games, the Salukis have won two in a row, including last night's win over Illinois. SIU (19-22) hosts Evansville, which is ranked in the top-50 nationally in RPI and considered a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament, this weekend at Itchy Jones Stadium. Friday's series opener will start at 6:30 p.m.
"Everybody was frustrated; and all of the sudden, you can relax a little bit," Henderson said. "If you've been around the game, everybody gets in a funk like that. You just need something to go well. Last night was huge, and I thought we built off that and played relaxed tonight, and it showed."
Notes: SIU has won 12-straight games when allowing four runs or fewer ... Murray State head coach Dan Skirkna did not attend the game after the passing of his father. A moment of silence was held before the game for the Skirkna family. ... SIU leads the nation in stolen bases per game and stole 13 bases in its two wins this week ... The Salukis are 9-2 in mid-week games this year and 19-5 in mid-weeks since the start of the 2018 season ... DeSomer's four strikeouts were a career high. DeSomer has pitched 15.0-straight innings without allowing an earned run. His last earned run allowed came on March 9.
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"I thought we were solid in all three phases of the game, especially on defense," SIU head coach Ken Henderson said. "We were outstanding on defense. We controlled their running game, which is a big part of their offense. They were 0-for-1 (stealing), so that's great work by our pitchers and (Austin Ulick) behind the plate. Our infield made a couple great plays."Â
Postgame Interviews » Henderson | Lyon
SIU (19-22) took the lead in the first inning. After SIU failed to get a runner home from third with one out, Alex Lyon picked up the slack with a two-out RBI single. Murray State tied the game in the second inning, but Ian Walters and Alex Lyon hit back-to-back two-out RBI singles in the third inning to give SIU a 3-1 lead. The Salukis added three runs in the fourth and one in the sixth to make it six unanswered runs and a 7-1 Saluki lead.Â
Southern's pitchers were outstanding in making the lead hold up. Noah Farmer, in his second career start, got through three innings and allowed just one run. Blake Begner and Dylan Givens combined to allow just one hit in three shutout innings.Â
Murray State (19-22) threatened to turn around a 7-1 score in the seventh inning. The Racers loaded the bases with one out and scored a pair of runs on a walk and a wild pitch. With the top of MSU's order up, Matt DeSomer ended the threat with four-straight strikeouts--two to end the seventh and two to start the eighth. Trey McDaniel ended the game with a perfect ninth inning.
"Once Matty settled in, he did a great job," Henderson said. "Once (P.J. Finigan) talked to him and made an adjustment, he was really special. He was throwing hard. They had a little momentum, and he shut the door on it. Then, he came back and threw a 1-2-3 eighth. That was the ballgame right there."
SIU's pitching issued just three walks, while the Saluki offense took 12 passes and stole five bases. Southern's only error was a catcher's interference call, and Grey Epps made a pair of spectacular backhanded plays behind the bag at third base to lead a flawless defensive effort in the field.Â
After dropping 10-straight games, the Salukis have won two in a row, including last night's win over Illinois. SIU (19-22) hosts Evansville, which is ranked in the top-50 nationally in RPI and considered a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament, this weekend at Itchy Jones Stadium. Friday's series opener will start at 6:30 p.m.
"Everybody was frustrated; and all of the sudden, you can relax a little bit," Henderson said. "If you've been around the game, everybody gets in a funk like that. You just need something to go well. Last night was huge, and I thought we built off that and played relaxed tonight, and it showed."
Notes: SIU has won 12-straight games when allowing four runs or fewer ... Murray State head coach Dan Skirkna did not attend the game after the passing of his father. A moment of silence was held before the game for the Skirkna family. ... SIU leads the nation in stolen bases per game and stole 13 bases in its two wins this week ... The Salukis are 9-2 in mid-week games this year and 19-5 in mid-weeks since the start of the 2018 season ... DeSomer's four strikeouts were a career high. DeSomer has pitched 15.0-straight innings without allowing an earned run. His last earned run allowed came on March 9.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Begner, Blake (4-5)
L: THOMAS, Justin (3-1)
Batting:
2B: COZART, Jordan 1 ; DARMAFALL, Sean 1 ; HOLLY, Jordan 1
RBI: ROBINSON, Jaron 1 ; HOLLY, Jordan 1
SF: ROBINSON, Jaron 1
Base Running:
RUNS: COZART, Jordan 1 ; DARMAFALL, Sean 1 ; ROBINSON, Jaron 1
CS: SLUNDER, Jake 1
HBP: ROBINSON, Jaron 1
Batting:
2B: Vasic, Nikola 1 ; Epps, Grey 1
RBI: Vasic, Nikola 1 ; LaRue, Will 1 ; Walters, Ian 2 ; Lyon, Alex 3 ; Ulick, Austin 1
SF: Vasic, Nikola 1 ; Lyon, Alex 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Vasic, Nikola 1 ; LaRue, Will 3 ; Weber, J.T. 1 ; Ulick, Austin 1 ; Epps, Grey 1 ; Fugitt, Addison 1
SB: LaRue, Will 3 ; Walters, Ian 1 ; Fugitt, Addison 1
CS: Lyon, Alex 2 ; Weber, J.T. 1
HBP: LaRue, Will 1 ; Walters, Ian 1 ; Fugitt, Addison 1
PO: Lyon, Alex 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
C
/ BaseballINF
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